I Need Your Love
by BookwormJC
Summary: FINAL PART OF "I NEED YOUR..." SERIES: In the past, Ema had been through a lot of misery. Now, after many years of grieving, Ema falls in love with someone else, though her mind tells her not to, out of respect for her boyfriend who had died years ago. On top of that, there is a new problem that involves a brother's obsessive love for her. What will Ema do now?
1. First Chapter: Obsession

**Before you read ahead, read the stories "I Need Your Heart" and "I Need Your Smile" in that order first. This is a continuation of the aforementioned volumes, so please be sure to do that.**

**Hello, everyone! I'm back to finish this series! Before I start, I would like to thank everyone, yet again, for sticking with me and I hope you will like the final volume. I hope you'll still like it even if the pairing you support isn't what's at the end...**

**Anyway, so this volume takes place one year after the end of the previous volume and involves a new conflict, as well as some old ones. If you haven't noticed, there hasn't been a family reunion involving every single brother, meaning that there are a few brothers that haven't seen her yet. Remember to keep that in mind, since there will be a big reunion scene involving the thirteen Asahina brothers.**

**So, that's it for now. Without further ado, let's start!**

**EDITED ON JANUARY 29, 2014: EDITED TO RECEIVE A T-RATING**

* * *

**I Need Your Love**

**First Chapter: Obsession**

As she gracefully walked through the graveyard, Ema Hinata's feet left small footprints on the snow. She could remember what happened there just a year ago. Back then, she could remember what had happened with Natsume, Yusuke and Iori Asahina, three of her thirteen step-brothers.

Roughly nine years ago, she had fallen in love a man named Fuyuki Shiraishi, even though her brothers were in love with her, especially Fuuto. During the time where they dated, some of her brothers hated it and hoped that they would break up. However, one day, one of them ended up killing Fuyuki, prompting Ema to leave the Asahina household.

After seven years, the authorities declared her dead, but due to the careful manipulation by her older brother, Hikaru, it was proven that she was alive, causing everyone to search for her. As a result, so many things happened to Ema, causing her to gradually break down. However, when Tsubaki rescued her from one of her brothers, who wanted to claim her as his own, she learned that she could finally live her own life while the brothers would wait for her to gain the confidence to come back.

Looking back at those moments, she realized that throughout the past year, she never thought of coming back. Even though she knew of their acceptance, she never felt confident enough to go back, since she could never forget what happened to her first love.

Making her way to Fuyuki's gravestone, she began to think about the T.V. drama "My Sister, My Love", which Hikaru used to make the world know that Ema Hinata was really alive. Just a day earlier, she watched the finale, which was really popular. To her, it felt a little weird watching it, since it was almost a mirror image of what really happened after Fuyuki's death. Even though that led her to think of the past, she stopped crying about it and moved on with life, letting her continue her career as an idol.

When she finally reached the gravestone, she sat down on the freezing snow, before reflecting on what had happened thus far. A year ago, she had a bit of an epiphany. Back then, she realized that she fell in love with someone else. In fact, it was one of the brothers she had tried so hard to run away from. Thinking about him, she wanted to apologize a million times for causing him so much pain when she attempted suicide and then ran away.

However, the more she thought about that brother, the more she thought about Fuyuki. She convinced herself that she would love him forever, so when she realized her new-found love for one of her brothers, she felt as if she betrayed him. She really wanted to love Fuyuki, but she wanted to love that brother as well.

"_I don't know what to do..." _Ema thought to herself, looking sadly at the gravestone. She was torn between her brother and a dead man. It was as if a part of her wanted to love Fuyuki forever, while another part of her wanted to love that brother. Carefully placing the bouquet of flowers on the gravestone, she stood up and walked away, wondering which choice she will make in the end.

* * *

The next day, Ema walked out of the studio, holding her purse in her hand, as she placed a pair of sunglasses on her face in order to disguise herself. As she walked onto the snow-covered street, she looked around, only to see a black car parked on the side of the road. Staring curiously at it, she had a feeling of familiarity. It was as if she had seen that car before. That's when she felt a hand grab hers forcefully, prompting her to turn around to see who it was.

It was Fuuto, who was wearing a pair of sunglasses as well. As soon as she saw who it was, her eyes widened as she saw him smirking at her.

"It's been a year, Nee-san..." Fuuto smiled seductively as he held her chin with one of his hands. "Why did you have to run away, you sneaky woman..." As his face was so close that she could feel his warm breath in the winter air, Ema tried to push herself away, remembering what happened last time.

"Get away from me!" Ema screamed at her younger step-brother, who only tightened his grip on her hand, making her wince in pain.

"Why, Nee-san?" Fuuto asked her seductively as his breath tickled her ear, as he held both of her hands with his own. "I have yet to punish you for leaving me for so many years... Don't you think it's only fair if you just give up? Otherwise, if you run away, I'll find you eventually and then, I'll make you mine." Ema knew that Fuuto was rather snarky, but she didn't think her disappearance would cause him to turn into such a desperate and possessive person.

"Let me go!" Ema shrieked loudly as her heart began to beat faster and faster after every passing second, but Fuuto suddenly placed his hand over mouth forcefully, making her unable to speak.

"Don't forget, I know that you live with Masa-nii's fiancée, so don't think about running away from me," Fuuto said in a serious, albeit seductive tone. "Otherwise, when I find you in that house, I won't be as gentle, so consider this your warning..." At this point, Ema was freaking out. She didn't know what to do anymore, since her fear for her younger brother grew dramatically.

Then, all of a sudden, someone ran up to them and pulled Fuuto off of her, much to Ema's relief. While Fuuto fell right onto the snow-covered street, Ema turned around to find out that it was Michiko Arai, one of her friends who was in the same idol group as her. In addition, her other friend, Ayako Yukimura, stood behind Michiko, looking sadly on the ground.

"How dare you do that, you low life!" Michiko screamed at Fuuto, appalled by the fact that he would do such things to one of her best friends. Earlier, she overheard Fuuto telling Ema that he would make her his and that he knows where she lives. Concerned for her friend, she grabbed her friend's hand and ran away with her.

Meanwhile, As Michiko and Ema ran, Ayako only looked at Fuuto as a tear slid down her face. She had been in love with Fuuto for a while, even though at first, she found him the most annoying person on the planet. However, when she fell in love with him, she was deeply saddened by the fact that he kept on pursuing Ema, trying to do anything and everything he was able to do so that she could love him. She didn't care that he would go to great lengths, she just wanted him to love her back.

"Damn it!" he said to himself, clenching his fists as he looked at the snow. "Why does she have to make it hard for me! Can't she just love me back?" While Ayako looked at the person she loved, she wanted to tell him to forget about her. However, seeing that he was so in love with her best friend, she just turned around and walked away from Fuuto, who continued to grumble to himself.

* * *

Back at the Shiraishi household, Masaomi Asahina and Aiko Shiraishi, an engaged couple, were making wedding plans. Aiko and Masaomi at first had their future marriage arranged, but they eventually fell in love with her. As a result, it complicated Ema's predicament, since Masaomi was Ema's older step-brother. However, their engagement no longer seemed to be a problem for anyone, except for Wataru, Masaomi's younger brother who blamed Aiko for stealing his beloved older brother away from him.

Then, all of a sudden, Ema opened the door as she and Michiko walked into the house, prompting Aiko to stand up from the table and walk towards the pair.

"Welcome!" she smiled wholeheartedly until she realized that something about Ema seemed a little off. Inviting the pair to the table, she went to get some food for them. Returning from the kitchen, she sat at the table and asked the pair, "Did anything happen earlier?"

As Ema looked down at the floor, Michiko decided to bring up what had happened. "Earlier, Fuuto tried to harass Ema, but she managed to escape..." Michiko said in a serious voice.

"What! How could this happen?" Aiko said, shocked at what she heard. At the same time, Masaomi only sighed after hearing what he had done. Of course, as the oldest brother, he knew what Fuuto was like.

"Well, Fuuto is just that kind of person..." Masaomi brought up, remembering all the things he had done and said to Ema both before and after she left. "Lately, it seemed as if he had obsessed over Imouto-chan..." As Masaomi sighed, Ema suddenly stood up, catching everyone's attention.

"I don't think I can live here anymore..." Ema told Aiko, who only looked at her in disbelief. As Ema began to walk towards the room where she slept in, Aiko, shocked at this, asked her why. Stopping just before the door, she said softly, "He knows that I live here..."

"It's not safe for her to live here anymore..." Michiko elaborated on what Ema said. "I overheard Fuuto telling Ema that he knows that she lives here. He even told her that he would come and harass her in this very home if she doesn't let him do _that_ to her..." Meanwhile, Aiko and Masaomi seemed to understand Ema's predicament.

"I see... I guess you have to leave then..." Aiko agreed with Michiko, as she really cared about Ema. After Fuyuka and Fuyuki's death, Aiko had nobody left to call her sibling. Both her younger brother and her younger sister had passed away, leaving their older sister by herself. However, when she found Ema by the river that day, she began to cherish her, to the point where she even saw her as a younger sister figure. Now, after hearing about what was happening to her, she only wanted the best for Ema.

Then, at that moment, Ema ran up to her and gave her an embrace, while Aiko simply caressed Ema's hair as she began to cry. Of course, she was going to miss her, but if it's going to keep Ema safe from Fuuto's intentions, then it had to be done. After breaking the hug a minute later, Ema ran upstairs with Michiko to pack her bags.

The next day, as she brought her bags to the front door, Ema gave Aiko a hug before leaving. To Aiko, this wasn't really a goodbye, since all that Ema was going to was to move to another part of the same city. Making her way to load her bags into the car, she took one last look at Fuyuki's photo.

As she stared at it, she thought about the times she had spent with him back when he was alive. She really missed him, since she loved him a lot. Now that she was going to move away from the Shiraishi household, she felt as if she was becoming more distant to Fuyuki. Taking the picture frame, she "kissed his forehead" before placing it neatly back on the table. Then, after her last glance, she walked out of the place where Fuyuki lived.

* * *

A week later, Ema finally grew accustomed to living in the small apartment Michiko and Aiko shared. Even though it seemed really strange living away from the Shiraishi household, she knew that it couldn't be helped, seeing that it was something they had to do to protect her from Fuuto's intentions.

As they woke up early to prepare to go to the studio to practice one of their dances for a music video, Michiko brought up the fact that the manager apparently had big news for them. Since this was the first time Ema heard about the news, she was about to ask Michiko about it, but then, Ayako suddenly tripped over a bunch of stuff she had left on the floor.

"Geez!" Ayako screeched, making a big scene out of such a little thing. "Couldn't we get a bigger apartment! I swear, if I spend another day in this tiny apartment, I'm gonna die!"

"Hopefully, within this year, we'd be able to move out of this apartment, Ayako," Michiko tried to reassure Ayako, even though she wasn't even sure if they would be able to move out of the crammed apartment. As they got their shoes on, they raced out the door in order to meet with the manager in the studio.

After their dance practice, the manager finally called the girls over so that they could hear the news that he wanted to tell them. He was aware that Michiko and Ayako hated the apartment they lived in, so he was sure that this would be something that would make their day.

"So what was the news you wanted to tell us?" Michiko asked, while Ayako only looked at him impatiently. Seeing the smile he tried to hide, they knew that it was something that they would enjoy. After all, why else would he try to hide his smile?

"Well, you know how your apartment is a bit on the small side?" he asked, while the others started to get their hopes up. "Pack your bags, because the agency decided that you guys should move into a mansion right here in Kichijouji!" At that moment, Ayako started to scream in excitement, while Michiko simply smiled.

"How did the agency manage to get a mansion?" Michiko asked out of curiosity, while Ema began to think more about what was going on.

"One of the managers told us about it," the manager pointed out, preparing to explain what happened. "He told the agency that he knew of a big family that suddenly went into a financial situation, and that one of the idols is a part of said family. Apparently, it had something to do with the death of their parents. In the end, we decided to help them out, since, as I mentioned before, one of them works for us..." That rung a bell in Ema's mind.

"Excuse me, but may I ask what the name of the mansion is?" Ema asked, realizing that there was something about that explanation that seemed familiar to her. After all... a big family? Death of their parents? An idol? There had to be something about it that made a bell ring in Ema's mind.

Turning towards Ema, the manager simply told her, "I believe it's called the Sunrise Residence...", causing the twenty-five year old woman to get surprised at this development.


	2. Second Chapter: Switch

**I Need Your Love**

**Second Chapter: Switch**

The next day, some of the members of the Asahina family stood outside the Sunrise Residence, waiting for the new owners of their former house to arrive. While some of them seemed impatient about it, others just leaned against the house's walls.

Ukyo, who was going to give the new owners the house key, looked at the place where he used to live. He had lived there as long as he could remember. Looking at the floors where they had spent a large amount of their lives in, he felt a bit sad that they have to leave this place behind. That was when he remembered the time where he told the family that they would sell the house and go their separate ways.

_It was Christmas Eve, the day where Rintarou and Miwa died in a car accident. Ukyo, who was home from work early, prepared dinner for his brothers that still lived there. While he was chopping the vegetables, he heard the doorbell ring. Since Wataru was in the area, Ukyo politely asked Wataru to check who it was, while he continued to chop the vegetables._

"_Ukyo-nii!" Wataru yelled from the intercom, catching his attention. "The devil woman is here!" Knowing who Wataru was referring to, he left the kitchen to talk to her. As he opened the door, he saw Aiko, who wore a dress, since she and Masaomi were supposed to go on a date._

"_Aiko-san," Ukyo politely greeted, inviting her into the house. "What brings you here?" As Aiko walked into the house, she explained to him that Masaomi sent her to bring important news, the news that would change the lives of the members of the Asahina family, while Ukyo simply asked her to stay for dinner so that she would tell it to the whole family._

_A couple of hours later, while everyone gathered around the table, Aiko sat quietly beside her fiancé, while Wataru stared at her coldly. Since the family had finished eating dinner, Aiko decided that she should break the news to them._

_Standing up suddenly, all eyes were on her. As she cleared her throat, she wanted to make sure that they were ready to hear the news. "I have some news to tell you, and I warn you all that it isn't good news. Earlier today, your mother and Rintarou-san had died in a car accident." At that moment, practically everyone in the room was in a state of shock._

_As the brothers began to cry, due to the loss of their parents, Masaomi tried to find a way to transition to his next point, since everyone mourned the loss of their mother and their step-father. Then, he cleared his throat in the same way his fiancée did. _

"_There's also something I need to tell you..." Masaomi told his brothers as they looked at him, some of them teary-eyed. "I think we should sell the house... With one less source of income, we would need more money to sustain ourselves and I think selling the house and going our separate ways would be a good place to start. That way, if we move into apartments, we would still have enough money, don't you think?"_

"_Are you sure?" Ukyo asked his older brother, who only looked down at his lap._

"_Well, some of us already have full-time jobs, and I think we're old enough to take care of ourselves." Masaomi pointed out, while some of the family members were considering the idea._

_After a few minutes of talking amongst themselves, most of the family members decided to go ahead with selling the house and moving into separate apartments. As they started talking about who's living with who, Masaomi suggested that Wataru live with him and Aiko. That prompted Wataru to stand up and slam his hands on the table defiantly._

"_What?" Wataru screamed, since he was completly against what was going on. "Are you seriously going to leave this house behind! I don't want to! I'm going to stay here whether you all like it or not!" He then pushed the chair away and walked straight toward his room._

"_Wataru!" Masaomi scolded him, causing Wataru to stop in his tracks._

"_I'm not going to leave this house! I'm not going to live with that tramp, Masa-nii!" he screamed before storming down the hallway until he reached his room. As the family heard the door slam, they simply sighed. Meanwhile, Masaomi tried to figure out how to break the news to his little sister, who had not heard the news yet._

As he finished reminiscing, he noticed that some of his brothers had left, since they didn't want to wait any longer for the new owner's arrival. Sighing to himself, he simply walked towards the front gate, only to spot a group of women walking towards the house.

"Excuse me," he asked politely, grabbing their attention. "Are you the new owners of this house." As they looked at him, their eyes covered by their sunglasses, one of them smiled.

"Yes, we are..." the one who smiled said in a voice that was familiar to Ukyo. As she took her sunglasses off, Ukyo's eyes widened as soon as he saw his little sister's face. "It's been a while since I last been here, Ukyo-san."

"Ema-san?" he asked, shocked at what was happening. As he pulled her into a hug, she smiled at him, glad that she would be able to chat with one of the brothers that she hadn't talked to in a while. She wasn't as scared about meeting with her brothers as she was in the past, even though she still wondered if it was going to return to the way things were before she met Fuyuki. "How have you been?"

"I'm doing well, Ukyo-san," Ema smiled whole-heartedly. "I just want to know what happened. Why are you guys moving away? Did anything happen?" At that moment, Ukyo simply looked at the floor as he proceeded to tell her what had happened on the day Rintarou and Miwa died.

After a couple of minutes, Ukyo finished explaining the story, while Ema only looked down, feeling guilty of everything that had happened to them. She believed that if it wasn't for her decisions back then, the brothers wouldn't have gone through all of this. However, Ukyo simply patted her head and told her not to blame herself.

Then, Ukyo decided that he should leave, so that he could reunite with Kaname, the person he would share an apartment with. However, Ema took his hand, prompting Ukyo to stop walking.

"What is it, Ema-san?" Ukyo asked Ema, who only looked at the ground, remembering what had happened with one of her brothers.

"Ukyo-san, can you not tell Fuuto-kun that I live here now?" Ema asked quietly, looking around to check if Fuuto was in the area. "Lately, he had been harassing me, since from what I know, he wants to make me his... I don't know what happened with him, but I'm kind of scared, so please don't tell him. That's all I ask..."

"Of course..." Ukyo said, not wanting his younger brother to harass his little sister any further. He did know about Fuuto's behaviour, though he only had a vague idea of how far he went. As he smiled at her, she waved goodbye before entering the house with Michiko and Ayako, the other girls she walked with. While the movers started bringing the furniture inside, they simply walked into the elevator that would bring them to the Sunrise Residence, the place where Ema lived a long time ago.

Meanwhile, from outside, a mysterious figure walked past the gate after looking over it for some time. He had stayed outside the house for some time to check if the person he was looking for would eventually show up there. As he walked away from the mansion, he asked himself, "I guess this is where she lives now..."

* * *

While the movers moved the furniture around the house, Ayako decided to explore the place. Walking through the hallway, she hummed a playful tune as she looked around the door. As the sound of each footstep resonated throughout the corridor, _someone_ started to get annoyed after each echo.

"Get lost!" a shrill, albeit masculine voice screamed out. Ayako stopped right away as her eyes widened. Looking around frantically for the source of the noise, her heart started to beat rapidly. "Get the hell away from this house!" There it was again! All of a sudden, Ayako spun on her heel and screamed as she ran through the hallway. As she ran past Michiko and Ema, they both sighed at Ayako's supposed immaturity.

"Ayako," Ema asked, concerned for her friend. "What's going on? Why are you screaming?"

"The house is haunted! The house is haunted!" Ayako shrieked in terror as she began to cry. "We have to get out of here!" As Ayako started shaking in fear, Michiko laughed, something she could only do with close friends.

"Don't tell me you're serious," Michiko chuckled at the fact that Ayako was scared of the house just on the day they moved into it. She was positive that the house wasn't haunted, but she was still rather curious about why she thought that. Telling Ayako to lead her to the place where she heard the voice, they then walked through the hallway, while Ayako's heart began to beat even faster.

"There it is!" Ayako screamed as she suddenly turned around and tried to run away, but Ema stopped her, looking at the door that stood in front of them.

"This is Wataru's room..." Ema walked slowly towards the door, while Ayako warned her that a ghost probably lived there. Knocking quietly, she was quickly greeted with "Go away!". Even though the voice was deeper, she could tell right away that it was Wataru.

"See? This house is haunted!" Ayako screamed, while Michiko blocked her path, forcing her not to run away. "We have to get out of here, Ema!" As soon as she uttered that last word, the door suddenly opened and out came a college aged man, who quickly wrapped his arms around Ema, surprising her. That man was none other than Wataru.

"Onee-san?" Wataru asked, realizing what had happened. "Is that really you? If it is, then why did you leave?" At first, he didn't want to go out, since he was determined to chase away the new owners, but after hearing Ema's name come out of Ayako's mouth, the first thing he did was run out and hug his older sister, who he didn't see for such a long time.

"Yes, it's me, Wataru... I'm sorry! I'm sorry for everything!" she hugged him tightly as a tear fell down her cheek. She had missed Wataru so much ever since she left. He hadn't done anything to her when she was dating Fuyuki, yet she had made him suffer the pain of her disappearance. That was something she was truly sorry for. Wrapping her arms around the nineteen year old man who used to be a cute little boy she used to care for, they cried on each shoulders, while Ayako and Michiko walked away to let the two have a brother-sister moment.

Moments later, Wataru and Ema walked to the living room as she explained everything that had happened, from the time where she moved to America with Aiko up until the point where three of her brothers comforted her in the graveyard. Even though it was a hard thing to talk about, it had to be done. As soon as that conversation was over, Ema really wanted to change the subject.

"So, Wataru-chan," Ema said in a motherly voice, while Wataru told her to call her 'Wataru-kun' instead. "Over the years, it seems that you have gotten more handsome!" As she smiled, Wataru suddenly brightened up, and it seemed as if there was fire in his eyes.

"Really?" Wataru exclaimed as he sat up. He had a confident look in his eye as he looked at his older sister, who only giggled quietly.

"It seems that you still kept your child-like nature, though..." Ema laughed, while Wataru only looked at her as he sighed in an exaggerated manner as he crossed his arms and looked down.

"Geez..." Wataru pouted, while Ema laughed even louder. To her, even though Wataru had matured in appearance, he was still a young child at heart, even though he had the same amount of experience as other nineteen year olds. As Ema patted his back playfully, Wataru sighed before showing a faint smile.

"So, Wataru-kun, why did you stay here behind everyone's back?" Ema brought up, while Wataru looked at his lap as his faint smile suddenly dropped.

"It's all that tramps fault..." Wataru pouted, expressing his hate for his brother's fiancée. "If she didn't stick into our family's business, none of this would have happened! We'd still be a happy family and you wouldn't have to have gone through all that pain! She even stole Masa-nii away from me!"

"You mean Aiko-nee?" Ema asked in a soothing voice as Wataru nodded his head. "Don't blame her for all those things... When you grow even more, you will start to understand that it wouldn't be a bad thing. Sure, you would see Masaomi-san less, but it doesn't mean that he'll disappear from your life... For another thing, if it wasn't for her, my attempted suicide would have actually worked..."

"But... I don't know..." Wataru looked downcast as he stared at the floor. "It seemed as if he'd rather spend time with her than with me..." Noticing his pain, Ema wanted to make him feel better.

"I'll tell you what. I'll arrange for you to live with him so that you two can spend time with each other, is that okay?" she asked, while Wataru frowned at the idea.

"No, Onee-san," Wataru firmly objected, while Ema look at her younger brother. "I don't really want to live with him if _she's _going to be there!" While Ema stared at him, she saw the sad face Wataru put on, which in turn made her consider Wataru's feelings.

"Well, if that's what you don't want, then why don't you live here?" Ema suggested as Wataru brightened up.

"Really? Yes!" Wataru said, glad that he'd be able to catch up with his older sister, whom he used to have romantic feelings for. As he smiled at the quality time they'd spend as brother and sister, he suddenly thought of one thing. "All I ask is that you or those two girls wouldn't tell the others that I live here, please."

At first, Ema was about to object to that, but seeing that Wataru wanted to hide from her brothers in the same way she used to in Aiko's house, she decided that she would let him live in the mansion in secret, keeping Wataru's own feelings in mind.

As the pair stood up from the couch, Wataru left to go back to his own room, while Ema went to the kitchen to prepare dinner for the mansion's four inhabitants: Michiko, Ayako, Wataru and herself.

* * *

Meanwhile, in an apartment complex, while the brothers were moving some of the furniture to the apartment Ukyo and Kaname will share, Ukyo walked through the hallway, while Fuuto leaned onto the wall, only browsing his phone.

"Fuuto!" Ukyo scolded, while Fuuto only scoffed at his older brother. "Could you actually do something here? You haven't been doing anything here!" As Ukyo crossed his arms, Fuuto walked past him and only gave him a glare. Then, Kaname walked towards Ukyo and told the second oldest brother before walking off somewhere, while piquing Fuuto's interest at the same time.

Quietly walking in the same direction, he made sure that he wouldn't make a noise that would cause the two to notice. As he went closer to the corner, his brothers' voices became audible. Hiding around the corner, he eavesdropped on their conversation.

"So how did handing the key go?" Kaname asked Ukyo, who suddenly remembered what had happened with Ema.

"It was surprising really," Ukyo pointed out, while Kaname only smiled at him. Meanwhile, Fuuto placed his ear as close as he could without revealing himself to his brothers.

"How come?" Kaname inquired, while Ukyo pushed up his glasses. As he looked around to see if the coast was clear, Fuuto suddenly ran into a storage room in order to avoid being caught by Ukyo. When Ukyo returned to Kaname, Fuuto went back out to hear what he was going to say this.

"I'll tell you, but promise me you won't tell anyone other than Masaomi-nii-san, okay? Especially not Fuuto!" Ukyo warned, while Kaname nodded, agreeing with this condition. As Ukyo took a deep breath, he began to tell him what had happened earlier that day. "It turns out that Ema-san was one of the new owners..."

After hearing this, Fuuto quietly walked away, smirking at what he learned. He knew that after trying to get his older sister to love him by threatening her, she would try to run away from him. As he laughed silently, he said to himself, "At least she tried..." before he left the apartment complex to plan his next move.


	3. Third Chapter: Foolishness

**I Need Your Love**

**Third Chapter: Foolishness**

After they have moved into their apartments, Subaru walked out into the balcony, where he sat and stared at the sky in order to reflect on the things that had happened. Although he was aware that it was a rather cliché thing to do, that didn't change the fact that, for him anyway, it helped him.

As he looked at the sun that began to set, he remembered all the things that had happened with sister, both before and after she left the Sunrise Residence, possibly for good. He could recall the moment where she ran into him while he was half-naked. That was an extremely awkward moment for him. In fact, according to Subaru, that was one of many.

However, despite the relationship they had as brother and sister, that didn't change the fact that Ema left the Asahina household. On the day where he comforted her after the argument with Tsubaki and Fuuto, which took place after her boyfriend had died in their hands, he heard the message Ema left behind out of the lips of Iori and Louis, who found said letter in her room. That was one of the worst days of her life. Not only did he lose a sister, but he lost something else...

He lost the person he loved. He had loved her for a long time. At first, he would just blush at the sight of her, since he always felt awkward around girls, due to the fact that his head was pretty much occupied by basketball. This crush turned into a deep love for her, one which he couldn't hide. In fact, after the death of Fuyuki, he planned to ask her out after a couple of days. However, that day never came.

After hearing the news from Iori and Louis, Subaru cried for many days and many nights. He couldn't believe that something like that would happen. In fact, he was so sad that he stopped playing basketball for a while, much to Natsume's dismay. Eventually, with the help, or constant prompting, from Natsume, he eventually went back to the court.

Then, after a couple of years, he watched that episode of the drama, which was based on one of Hikaru's books. After seeing the lead actress, Chiyoko "Chi" Asahina, the possibility that she could really be his dear sister came into light. Because of Hikaru's master plan, Ema was forced to look like how she did years ago, thus giving away the fact that Chiyoko Asahina was really Ema Hinata.

This brought a new hope that he could end up with her in the end. He had kept his love for Ema throughout the years, despite initially believing that she was dead. This prompted him to look for her, no matter how hard it would be. However, after hearing that he should keep her own feelings in mind, he decided to let her live her life, even if it was far away from him.

However, it was agonizing for him. He didn't know when or if she'll come back. That was the worst part for him. He wanted to see her so badly so that he could tell her that he never stopped loving her. In fact, whenever he played basketball, he played as best he could so that in the event where she's in the audience, she would see the best side of him.

Then, after taking a deep breath, he decided to practice for the game that would happen the day after, so that he could play his best for his beloved, little step-sister.

* * *

Making her way through the rows and aisles, Ema made her way through the stadium, looking for her seat. Wearing a pair of sunglasses, she tried her best to hide her identity, since she was a famous idol, of course.

A week ago, Ema had received a letter, which was personally delivered by Ukyo and signed by Subaru. Opening it, she read that he wanted her to attend a basketball game that was to take place a week from that time. Considering her situation, she wouldn't go, since she wasn't really ready to face some of her brothers yet. However, considering that he wanted to meet with her and that it was of dire importance, she decided to go.

As she finally found the seat, she sat down and took off her sunglasses, revealing her face. Considering that this was a public place where one can find "Chiyoko Asahina", she kept a wig on, just in case. Seeing that she had nothing to worry about, she decided that she should just enjoy the basketball match. Even if they do recognize her, it's not like she'd see one of her brothers, right?

Wrong. As she looked at the two seats to her left, all the colour drained from her face. Sitting beside her were two of her brothers, namely Yusuke and Natsume. At that moment, it seemed as if she couldn't just relax and watch the match. If it were people like Masaomi and Ukyo, she would be at ease, but no... It just had to be the ones who confronted her at the graveyard. Even after more than a year, she still felt awkward around them.

Trying to stay calm, she tried to attract as little attention as possible. Placing the pair of sunglasses back on her face, she felt her heart beat faster and faster. As the game progressed, she saw Subaru play. Of course, she wanted to cheer for him, but that would attract attention.

Then, after the game finished, the fans started to leave the stadium. Checking carefully if her brothers aren't looking at her, she slowly stood up. At the same time, Natsume stood up and started to walk away, but suddenly, he tripped over Yusuke's foot, causing him to fall. Since Ema was in front of him, she fell as well.

After the fall, Ema slowly crawled back again and continued towards the exit. However, all of a sudden, she felt someone grab her arm. Fearing the worst, she turned around to see that it was Yusuke, who looked at her with wide eyes. Looking behind Yusuke, she noticed that as Natsume stood back up, he held her wig and her pair of sunglasses, which flew off her head as she fell down, in his hand.

"Hinata-kun?" Yusuke said, shocked that he'd find his love. As Natsume walked towards the girl, Ema, overwhelmed by the situation, quickly yanked her arm away from Yusuke and ran away, while the two tried to chase her.

"Hey, Ema!" Natsume yelled as Yusuke and he chased after her. Meanwhile, from the court, Subaru noticed what was going on and smiled. He was surprised that Ema would voluntarily come to the game. He had no idea that a letter, signed under his name, was sent to her, saying that he wanted her to go to the basketball game. Hurrying off into the change room, he wanted to reunite with her as soon as possible.

* * *

Running to the place where her feet took her, she somehow ended up in the depths of the stadium. Not knowing where exactly she was, she continued to run, since Natsume and Yusuke were trailing behind her. As their footsteps became even more audible than the last, Ema suddenly turned around the corner and went into the first storage room she saw. Closing the door, she could hear Natsume and Yusuke talk to each other about her whereabouts, before walking away.

Seeing that they weren't there, she slowly opened the door and walked out. After making sure that they really left, she looked around to find a way to leave the stadium as soon as possible, she became unaware that someone was walking slowly towards her. All of a sudden, that man pinned her forcefully onto the wall.

"I can't believe you thought that you would get away from me, Nee-san..." the man mocked. He was in fact Fuuto, who had followed her from the moment she walked into the stadium. As he placed his hands on her wrists, he placed his face so close to hers to the point where their lips almost touched each other.

"Fuuto-kun, please!" Ema screamed as Fuuto planted his lips on hers briefly, breaking the forced kiss in order to see her crying face. Looking at the seductive smile he had on his face, Ema struggled to get away from the grip of her little brother.

"Don't you know how much I love you, Nee-san? Can't you understand my devotion for you?" Fuuto yelled as he held her chin up so that she would be forced to face him, prompting Ema to kick around in hopes of setting herself free from his grasp. "Why would I have to do this if you just give in? I'll never give up, you know!"

"Don't do this, Fuuto-kun!" Ema cried as Fuuto continued to play with her. She wouldn't think Fuuto would act like this. Even though he was rather seductive, she didn't think once that he would become such a monster. Trying to force her away from his grasp, Fuuto was only motivated to continue what he was doing.

Meanwhile, as Yusuke and Natsume ran through the stadium, Subaru, who was also looking for Ema, ran into them. After they explained what had happened, Subaru decided to join the search for their beloved step-sister.

Running off in another, separate direction, he went towards a hallway, which predominantly housed storage rooms. Walking through the hallway, he suddenly heard a bunch of screams. Making his way to where he heard it from, he became shocked and angry when he saw his younger brother, Fuuto, harass a teary-eyed Ema. Clenching his fists, he suddenly grabbed the unsuspecting man and punched him, causing him to fall towards the ground and away from Ema.

"What the hell are you doing!" Subaru yelled, as Fuuto stood up, wiping the small bit of blood that appeared on his face. Refusing to give his older brother an answer, Fuuto simply walked away, while Ema stood on the side, silently crying. After making sure that Fuuto was gone, he suddenly reached for her hand, shocking his step-sister.

"Subaru-san..."

"Where have you been? I've missed you so much!" Subaru quietly said as he held her hand tightly, while Ema suddenly yanked herself away from her older brother. That was when she realized that Subaru was one of the brothers that haven't seen her since she left the Asahina household over nine years ago. As the memories flooded back to her, Ema only distanced herself away from him. "Why did you come only now?" All of a sudden, Ema tilted her head in confusion.

"Didn't you send me a letter to come here?" Ema asked confusedly. She could have sworn that he sent her a letter saying that he really needed her to come to the basketball game. As he shook his head, confirming that he didn't send it, Ema wondered who was the one who sent the letter under Subaru's name. Then, remembering what happened with Fuuto moments earlier, she suddenly had an idea on who sent it, one that made her nervous.

However, Subaru suddenly took her into his arms, holding her fragile body tightly. "Even so, I'm glad that you came... I'm sorry for what they had done the night you had left! Please forgive us!" Subaru told her wholeheartedly as small tears fell off of his eyes, while Ema looked away, wanting to apologize for all the pain she had caused for the millionth time.

"I'm the one who should be sorry!" Ema said as she began to cry. Even though she wasn't sobbing loudly, like she did a year ago, she was still saddened by what had happened. Then, suddenly, Subaru mentioned that he had something else to say to her.

As he began to place his hands on Ema's shoulders, he had a serious look on his face. Meanwhile, Yusuke and Natsume, who went back to check that hallway again suddenly saw Subaru and Ema, prompting Yusuke to pull Natsume to a corner so they could eavesdrop.

"Ema!" Subaru spoke to her in a serious tone, while Ema only watched her brother. "There's something that I've wanted to tell you after Shiraishi-san died!" That last comment made Ema remember those sad memories that occurred during that Christmas date. "I want to say that... that... I'm in love with you! Please go out with me!"

Ema knew that it would turn into a confession. Looking away from him, more tears cascaded down her face. Then, in a soft voice, she simply told him, "I'm sorry, but... I can't go out with you... I don't want to... Please, Subaru-san..." As she began to cry silently, Subaru only looked at her with a pained look on his face before quietly turning around before walking away, without another word.

As he passed by Natsume and Yusuke, the brothers, who were concerned for the person they loved so much, walked towards Ema to check on her. However, suddenly, Ema spoke, as if she knew they were there.

"Natsume-san, Yusuke-kun, I know what you're thinking, too..." Ema concluded as they stopped in their tracks, astonished at what she said.

"Hinata..." Yusuke said out of shock, while Natsume continued to walk forward.

"I know that you two are in love with me!" Ema cried, as Natsume cautiously walked towards her, while Yusuke stood there, unable to say a word. "I've known that for the longest time! I knew that even before I met Fuyuki!"

"Ema!" Natsume tried to grab her hand, which prompted her to slap his hand away.

"Please don't!" Ema screamed as her face became tear streaked. "I don't want to go out with any of you! Please! I-I don't want to betray him!" Then, after realizing that she had slapped the hand of her brother, she suddenly sprinted through the hallway and out of sight. Though Natsume was a fast runner himself, he was so shocked at what had happened that he could only stand there.

Meanwhile, as Ema eventually found her way out of the stadium, Fuyuki, from above, looked at her with a sad look on his face, wondering if what she did was the right thing to do. He felt guilty, since Ema only rejected them simply because she believed that she would betray him by falling in love with another man.

However, all Fuyuki really wanted was for Ema to move on and be happy with someone else, but how would that be possible if she would automatically refuse their love towards her, even if the one confessing was the one she eventually fell in love with? After all, they need her love, which was something she refused to give.

"I'm sorry for leaving you like this..." Fuyuki whispered as if Ema would be able to hear his words. "If I've never died, you wouldn't have gone through all this pain. Please forgive me..."


	4. Fourth Chapter: Special Bond

**I Need Your Love**

**Fourth Chapter: Special Bond**

As winter turned into spring, the idol group finally became accustomed to living in the Sunrise Residence with Wataru. He still managed to hide himself from his brothers for three months, though Ema would often get frantic calls from Masaomi about Wataru's whereabouts. Though, deep inside, she didn't want to lie to the one who was kind to her during her ordeal, she didn't want to hurt Wataru either.

Right after work, the group entered the house to find Wataru sitting on the kitchen table, studying for his college classes. As she smiled at him, Wataru ran to her excitedly as if he was still ten years old.

"Onee-san, how was work?" Wataru asked as Ema hung her jacket on the coat rack. While she began walking towards the kitchen, her younger brother followed her.

"Busy, as usual. There's nothing we can do about it though..." Ema responded as she put on her apron to prepare dinner for the four. All of a sudden, Wataru decided to join in, seeing that he wanted to help his older sister out. After all, she was the one who allowed him to stay in the house.

Meanwhile, a car drove into the front of the house, while the people inside stepped out, closing the car door behind them. Masaomi and Aiko, the two people, were driving around Kichijouji to hand out the wedding invitations to all the brothers. As they walked towards the front door, Masaomi took out the invitations of Ema, Michiko and Ayako.

As soon as they heard the doorbell ring, Ema asked Ayako and Michiko to check who it was. Walking towards the front door, the opened it to see Masaomi and Aiko, whom they have met before.

"Asahina-san, Shiraishi-san, what brings you here?" Ayako said rather cheerfully, while Michiko stood behind her, keeping a cool façade. That was when the engaged couple gave them the invitations, enclosed in three, small, separate envelopes.

"We're inviting you to our wedding, which will take place soon!" Aiko smiled, along with Masaomi. It was clear that they were excited for the big day.

"Thanks, but where's Wataru's?" Ayako asked innocently, which prompted a warning from Michiko, who was aware that Ayako was on the way to unintentionally revealing a huge secret about said brother. At the same time, Masaomi's eyes widened, seeing that this could lead him closer to Wataru.

"Have you seen Wataru? Do you know where he lives?" Masaomi asked in a way that made him seem desperate to see his little brother again, while Michiko stood there, watching the scene unfold. She knew that this wasn't going to end well.

"Of course! He lives here, last time I checked... for the past few weeks, even!" Ayako mentioned as if she forgot that it was supposed to be a secret from Masaomi. As Masaomi slipped his shoes off his feet, he ran through the house to look for him, while Aiko trailed behind. As soon as they were around the corner, Michiko suddenly stomped on Ayako's foot as hard as she could, causing Ayako to wince in pain.

"What was that for?" Ayako cried, trying to sooth her throbbing foot, while Michiko only sighed.

"That was supposed to be a secret, you imbecile!" Michiko scolded, reminding Ayako that she told Masaomi something she wasn't supposed to reveal. Wanting to see what was going to happen to Wataru, they ran deeper into the house, where they could hear Masaomi calling Wataru's name.

"Wataru! Wataru! Where are you!" Masaomi screamed as he searched through the house in a desperate search for the little brother he missed so much. Ever since he disappeared, Masaomi felt as if part of him was missing. After all, Wataru and he were very close.

Meanwhile, as soon as Wataru heard the screams, he left Ema in the kitchen to find a hiding place. As he ran up the stairs, Masaomi zoomed into the area, prompting Wataru to run faster. However, that caused his footsteps to become more audible, thus giving Masaomi a hint.

"Wataru, get back here!" Masaomi yelled at Wataru, who was making a mad dash towards anywhere he could hide. Unfortunately for him, though, he suddenly got caught in a dead-end, forcing him to face the person he tried so hard to avoid. Turning around, he felt his heart beat faster out of nervousness as he looked at Masaomi's angry face.

"Masa-nii!" Wataru screamed at Masaomi, who ran towards him. "Get away from me!" Still angry about what Wataru did, Masaomi grabbed a hold of him, while Wataru tried to wrestle out of his grasp. He really didn't want to talk to his brother about it.

Meanwhile, in the living room, Aiko caught up with Ema, who had just finished cooking. Ema, hearing the commotion going on, was about to run upstairs to try to calm things down when she saw Aiko, who walked into the room.

"Ema," Aiko said after hearing the noise Masaomi and Wataru made. "What's going on with Wataru and Masaomi? Why did Wataru have to run away like that?" As she asked that question, Ema took a deep breath before explaining everything to her.

"Wataru-kun hates you..." Ema broke the news to her, while Aiko began to look down in a way that showed that she was quite affected by that.

"I know that, but why?" she asked. Ever since she was engaged to Masaomi, she noticed that Wataru seemed to dislike her, even calling her names like 'tramp' and 'witch'. Even though she tried to look unaffected by those, in reality, she really wanted Wataru to accept her. After all, ever since Fuyuki died, she wanted to see him as one of her own brothers so that he could fill the void Fuyuki left. However, if he hated her, then how could that work?

"Before, he used to be really close with Masaomi-san..." Ema mentioned as Aiko paid attention, wanting to make things right between her and her future brother-in-law. "However, ever since you two got engaged, he felt as if you stole his older brother away from him... In his eyes, he'd rather spend time with you over him..."

Before Aiko was able to react to that, they suddenly heard the words, "I hate her! She was the one who ruined this family!" which resonated throughout the entire house. As Ema knew that Wataru was the one who said that, she started to run upstairs. However, all of a sudden, they heard a loud thud, which greatly worried to two.

Running upstairs to see what was going on, they were shocked to see Wataru on the floor while Masaomi stood over him. Earlier, when Wataru said those words, Masaomi pushed him down, since he felt insulted after he said those words. Shocked by what he did to Wataru, Ema ran past him and took Wataru into her arms.

"Masaomi-san, can't you try to control your emotions?" Ema screamed at her older brother, who could only listen to her words. "Why can't you see that when you're angry, you bring up a scary side of you! Please stop this!" As Wataru looked angrily at his older brother, when Aiko suddenly ran in and tried to hold her fiancé back, that angry face was replaced with a surprised one instead.

"Please, Masaomi, stop this! Can't you try to be considerate of Wataru's own feelings?" Aiko begged as she tried to hold Masaomi back. At this point, Masaomi saw how far he went when it came to his emotions.

Even though he really loved Aiko, he loved Wataru just as much. There was a special bond between the two that could never be broken, one that existed only among two siblings that loved each other. Finally seeing the fault of his actions, he quickly turned around and ran out of the house.

Then, Aiko walked towards Ema and Wataru, hoping that he would forgive her. As soon as she reached them, she knelt down and faced Wataru, who only looked at her.

"Wataru-kun, please forgive me if it seems that I'm stealing Masaomi away from you..." Aiko apologized, her smooth, soft voice resonating in his ears. "I now know that you two have a special bond, something that I can't even break. Even so, I hope that someday, you will be able to think of me as your older sister..." After patting his head, she stood up and waved goodbye.

As soon as she left, Ema hugged Wataru and said, "Please remember what Aiko-san said... She's really a nice person and she's only looking out for you..." As Wataru looked away, Ema stood up and left, leaving Wataru to think about what had happened.

Before, he had the assumption that Aiko was nothing but a bitch and a tramp who ruined the family and stole Masaomi away by being a complete seductress. However, after hearing what she said and did, he no longer knew if that was what she really was. Confused by all of this, he stood up and walked to his room, reflecting on what had happened.

* * *

A few days later, Ema walked into her room. It had been a long day, which consisted mainly of a music video shoot. It had been really tiring for her, especially since an important event would happen soon. Falling straight onto her bed, she let herself drift off into sleep.

_As the clouds raced by, the sun was shining brightly. She was back in the park by the river, the place where Fuyuki confessed to her. While Ema walked around, she saw a silhouette in the distance. Stepping closer to the figure, she began to cry tears of joy once she realized that it was Fuyuki. __Excited, she ran towards him and put her arms around her._

"_Fuyuki! It's been so long since I've seen you!" she cried into his shirt, while he just stood there, unresponsive. "Please stay with me! I love you and I always will!" Then, Fuyuki scoffed and pushed her onto the ground._

"_Liar!" he screamed, before disappearing. Ema was aware that she was starting to fall in love with one of her step-brothers, but she knew that she would be betraying Fuyuki by doing that. Now that he expressed his anger at her, Ema began to sob uncontrollably, shouting his name as loud as she could._

"_What a traitor! I can't believe you would betray Fuyuki like that..." Aiko told Ema sharply as she crossed her arms in disapproval, while Ema turned around to face her. She had an angry look plastered onto her face as she looked down upon her._

_All of a sudden, she felt a little tiny creature run up her arm. Looking down, she found Juli, who refused to look at her. "Why did you have to run away like that? I actually thought you were dead!" was all he said before disappearing into thin air._

"_Ema... Why are you trying to avoid us?" her father said across the river as he held Miwa's hand. They were both crying from the pain they had went through. Ema was aware that they died because she tried to run away from them. As she sobbed more and more, she suddenly felt someone's arms wrap around her as he planted a kiss on her neck, causing her to flinch._

"_You look cute when you're crying..." Fuuto seductively whispered into her ear, while Ema pushed him away with all her might. She had been bothered by him so much that she believed that he was taken over by a monster who scrambled his conscience._

"_What a loser!" Michiko scoffed as she and Aiko stood in front of her. Ema couldn't believe what was happening. First, everyone started leaving her and now, her best friends were showing their disgust towards her._

"_I know, right?" Ayako joined in, crossing her arms as she stared at her in contempt. "I don't see what Fuuto-kun sees in her! I mean, she's just a little slut, if you ask me..." Spitting at Ema, she walked away, while Ema tried to chase after them._

"_Goodbye, Imouto-chan..." someone whispered from behind her. Turning around, she could see Tsubaki's figure as he walked away from her. She had missed him ever since he told her that he would be away indefinitely. Reaching her breaking point, she suddenly felt someone tap her shoulder. Turning around, she saw the brother she loved._

"_Why are you still going after Fuyuki?" he asked, while Ema looked down sadly. She didn't realize that everything that had happened had affected him greatly. As she tried to tell him that she loves him, he suddenly pushed her away, knowing that she still has feelings for Fuyuki._

"_Can't you just give up on him? He's dead!" he screamed before disappearing. Remembering everything that had happened to her thus far, she collapsed onto the ground and sobbed as loud as she could as she buried her face into her hands. She no longer had anyone to turn to._

That was when she woke up. It was still the middle of the night. Sitting up, she pinched herself to make sure that she was in the real world. As she wiped her eyes, she realized that what she had experienced a while ago was just a nightmare.

Falling back onto the soft mattress, she reminded herself that Aiko and Masaomi's wedding would take place the next day. Deciding that she should get some rest, she closed her eyes and let herself drift off into sleep again, hoping that she wouldn't get yet another nightmare.


	5. Fifth Chapter: Reunion

**I Need Your Love**

**Fifth Chapter: Reunion**

The day of Masaomi and Aiko's wedding came. As the sun shone through the stained glass, the Asahina brothers, except for Tsubaki, Ema, Michiko, Ayako, as well as a few of Masaomi and Aiko's colleagues, stayed at their places, since the wedding was about to start. As the music played, they watched as Aiko walked gracefully on the aisle, while Masaomi looked lovingly at her from the end of the aisle. Even though he was going to get married at a late age, he still ended up being the first of the Asahina brothers to go through this step in life.

Meanwhile, Ema, Michiko and Aiko, who were Aiko's bridesmaids, looked at her and smiled, happy that she was able to get her happy ending. As Ema looked, she dreamed of when she would do this with the brother she ended up falling in love with. Then, as an image of Fuyuki flashed through her mind, she stopped dwelling on her daydream, not wanting to hurt her dead lover any further.

At the same time, many of the brothers stared at Ema. She still had dark brown hair, which flowed gracefully from the top of her head, as if it was a stream rushing down from the top of a hill. As the wedding took place, they talked amongst themselves on whether the dark-haired lady really was their little sister. Since Ema herself was able to hear their words, she tried to brace herself for the confrontation, which she knew was inevitable.

Then, watching everything progress, they finally reached the moment where Masaomi and Aiko would kiss each other. As they faced each other, they said their wedding vows in a serious, yet loving expression, before exchanging the rings. As the wedding proceeded, they were approaching the part where Masaomi and Aiko would finally become husband and wife.

While everyone stared at the couple, Ema began to cry. Aiko had done so much for her, and she felt as if she truly deserved this happiness. After all, even when Fuyuki, Aiko's own little brother, died, she still did so much for her. She took care of her in after her attempted suicide, and she gave her a new life as well when they moved to America. Smiling at the couple, she watched as they prepared themselves for what will happen.

"You may now kiss the bride," the minister told the couple. As they smiled at each other, they went in for the kiss. At the moment, they were greeted by a continuous applause. Then as they walked out of the chapel, arm in arm, Ema glanced at Wataru, who smiled tearfully as he looked at the couple.

* * *

After the reception, while the brothers were cleaning up, Ema walked through the park as she reflected on what had happened during the wedding. Earlier, she heard some of the brothers talking amongst themselves as they stared at her. She knew that they wanted to reunite with her, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to face them after so many years of running away from them.

Then, as she passed by a gazebo, she noticed Wataru sitting in it as he stared at the lake. Looking at his face, she could tell that he was deep in thought. Politely walking inside, she sat down next to him and tapped his shoulder.

"Hi, Wataru-kun!" Ema smiled as Wataru turned to face her. As he looked at his face, she noticed that tears were pooling in his eyes. After staring for a bit, she quietly asked him, "What's wrong?"

After taking a deep breath, he looked down regretfully as Ema suddenly pulled him into a hug. "I'm just ashamed with myself, that's all... I've treated Aiko-nee-san so badly, just because I thought she was stealing Masa-nii away from me. How wrong I was..." As he held Ema tight, the tears started to cascade down his cheeks. "How could I be so blind that I wouldn't see how she really was? I want to apologize to her so badly, but I can't bring myself to!"

Moments earlier, Masaomi and Aiko, who were walking through the park as well, noticed both Wataru and Ema in the gazebo. Wanting to join them, they quietly walked inside. Then, as soon as they heard Wataru say those words, Aiko started to think about some things.

In the past, Aiko treated Iori really badly, just because she thought that he was responsible for the deaths of both Fuyuki and Fuyuka. However, throughout the past year, after many reflections on her past, she realized that she was only being rash. Ashamed of her actions, she really wanted to apologize to Iori, but she didn't know how, since she had done so many things to him.

Then, Ema, noticing the two, suddenly broke the hug out of shock. She didn't think that Masaomi and Aiko would overhear the entire conversation. Wataru, whose heart started to beat faster and faster out of nervousness, only stared at them, since that would mean that he would have to apologize to them right at that moment. As he began to walk towards Aiko, Masaomi took him into his arms and hugged him tightly.

"I'm sorry!" Masaomi cried as he tightened his grip on his younger brother. He was disgusted with himself, since he had pushed Wataru down during the confrontation at the Sunrise Residence earlier that week. "Please forgive me!"

"Of course, Masa-nii!" Wataru cried as he hugged Masaomi tightly. If one thing's for sure, it's that Masaomi and Wataru had a special bond, a bond which only grew stronger that day. Then, from the corner of his eye, he noticed Aiko smiling at the two. Nervously breaking the hug, he slowly walked towards Aiko.

"Aiko-nee-san..." he quietly said, before bowing down apologetically and profusely. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry for treating you so badly in the past!" As tears began to fall out of his eyes, Aiko slowly walked towards him and patted him on the head, smiling at him.

"Thank you, Wataru-kun..." Aiko smiled at Wataru, who looked at her, happy that she accepted his apology. "I'm really glad that we could be family now! That makes me so happy!" As Wataru hugged her, Aiko realized that if Wataru could apologize to her for his treatment, then she could do the same for Iori.

As Ema watched the scene, she started to feel glad that it happened. Staring at the lake, she wondered what would happen when it would be her turn to apologize to the brothers. Even though Wataru treated Aiko badly, and Aiko did the same with Iori, Ema knew that what she did was much worse, considering that it had affected the entire family.

While tears were beginning to form in her eyes, she suddenly heard someone scream, "Ema!" Shocked by that, she turned around slowly to see many of her brothers, standing as one big group. As they stared at her, Ema felt her own heart beat faster and faster. She knew that it would happen, but that was something she wasn't ready for. As Aiko placed a hand on her shoulder, while Masaomi and Wataru smiled at her in an encouraging way, Ema slowly walked towards the brothers she had left for such a long time.

"Ema!" they smiled as they pulled the twenty-five year old woman towards them. After seeing all of their smiles, Ema felt as if she was a part of the family again. She finally had the sense of community she had always longed for, a feeling she didn't have for so many years. After all, while she was hiding herself from the brothers, even though she had many friends, she still felt lonely without her step-brothers. Smiling at what was going on, she began to cry tears of joy.

Then, remembering what she had done to them, she suddenly went on her knees and bowed apologetically, screaming out "I'm sorry! I'm sorry for hurting all of you back then! Please forgive me!" As tears flowed down her face, Yusuke walked towards her and placed his hands on her shoulder.

"It's okay! We'll promise to be the family you've always wanted! Just don't leave like that again!" Yusuke cried as he held her tightly. He was one of the brothers that was affected by her disappearance and supposed death the most. Natsume, jealous of what he saw, decided to join the hug, so that Yusuke and Ema wouldn't have some sort of semi-romantic moment. Then, more and more brothers joined into the hug, engulfing Ema, who only became much much happier.

That was until she remembered what had happened back at the stadium. She could remember that moment where she rejected three of her brothers on the same day. As the feeling of bliss was replaced with a tense feeling, Ema's eyes widened, catching her brothers' attention. As her eyes widened, her heart began to beat a thousand times faster. After all, the person she liked was among them.

As she suddenly forced her way out of the group hug, her hands began to shake as a feeling of insecurity took over the woman. Slowly distancing herself away from them, she felt as if her heart wanted to beat out of her chest. Her step-brothers, concerned for her, walked towards her, wanting to make her feel better. Then, as an image of Fuyuki popped up in her head, Ema re-established the fact that she couldn't be with someone other than her dead boyfriend. She couldn't take it anymore.

Turning around, she ran off to who-knows-where, shocking the brothers, who almost went off to chase her, if it wasn't for the older brothers, who wanted to respect their little sister's feelings. Teardrops flew off her face and into the wind as she sprinted as fast as she could. Running past the river, she wiped the tears away as all the things she had been through, such as Fuyuki's declaration of love and his death, went through her mind.

Meanwhile, after seeing her run off, some of the brothers asked themselves what had happened as they prevented the others from chasing her. As everyone became worried, Aiko tried to reassure them that she was just overwhelmed by everything, an attempt that proved unsuccessful.

"What happened?" Azusa asked his brothers, many of whom had no idea. At the same time, Natsume, Yusuke and Subaru, who suspected that it had something to do with what had happened after Subaru's basketball game, tried to keep quiet and put on their best poker face, not willing to cause any more family problems that would scare off their dear step-sister even more.

After a brief pause, someone cleared their throat, attracting the brothers' attention. "Well, I have an idea," Hikaru said with a suspicious, yet exaggerated tone, while Yusuke, Natsume and Subaru were beginning to die of nervousness. "I think that she had found someone else to love..."

As he smiled, the brothers started a commotion, talking amongst themselves about Hikaru's suspicion. Comments such as "Doesn't she love Shiraishi-san?" and "Who is it?" sprang up. At that moment, Fuuto, angered by this, walked away briskly as they were talking. Then, all of a sudden, everyone ran off to look for her, an attempt that would prove unsuccessful.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the gazebo, a mysterious figure walked past the gazebo. Earlier, someone showed up at the apartment he shared with his girlfriend, asking that man to do anything he can to protect the one who took care of him. Seeing that said person was a close friend of his, he agreed, while that someone told him everything, from where she lives to which people would be most likely to harm her.

Looking inside, he noticed that Fuuto, one of the people who that person told him would most likely hurt the woman he asked her to protect, was holding his phone to his ear as he talked to someone. Seeing that it seemed slightly suspicious, he hid beneath a bush that stood right next to it. Staying as quiet as possible, he tried to make out what he said.

"Hey, I need you to help me with something..." he said as he smirked. As the other person maintained the conversation, Fuuto continued to speak, letting his snarky attitude out. "See, there's this girl I need for you to kidnap... Ema Hinata, you know her, right? She can be a bit of an idiot, if you ask me, but she's really pretty nonetheless."

Taking a deep breath, Fuuto clenched his fists, angry that she had found somebody to love. "You see, I need to make her mine. After all, why would that idiot not want to be with me? Anyway, I need to do whatever it takes for her to love me, even if I have to hold her captive... Besides, if it's like that, then she can be mine and mine alone!"

Then, after talking about a few little details, such as her house address and how to kidnap Ema, he turned off his phone and walked away from the gazebo, unaware that someone had watched him the entire time. As the man stood up from the bush, he looked at Fuuto's walking figure, shocked at his plans. After all, Fuuto was going to do something unforgivable to someone he truly cared about.

"Hinata-san..." he only muttered, his face showing his concern. As he got out of the bush, he walked towards his apartment to reunite with his girlfriend, at the same time, trying to think of a way to protect Ema from that monster's plans. After all, the last thing he would want for his friend was for her to be harassed by some other person.


	6. Sixth Chapter: Disappearance

**I Need Your Love**

**Sixth Chapter: Disappearance**

Even though it was just one day after Masaomi and Aiko's wedding, that didn't excuse Ema, Ayako and Michiko from work. They were famous idols after all, and being an idol was extremely hard. For instance, there were rarely any days off, and the wedding, as well as a bunch of other occasions, were simply exceptions.

After driving into the driveway of the Sunrise Residence, fully disguised, the girls walked out of the car and towards the house. Being wary of any people who may have managed to follow them, they quietly walked into the house. However, all of a sudden, they heard a group of people call out Ema's name, causing her to turn around.

There stood three of her brothers, namely Ukyo, Kaname and Azusa. Surprised at their arrival, she walked towards them slowly and nervously, since she had abruptly ran away from them after the wedding reception the day before. After all, she was kind of ashamed that she had worried her brothers yet again.

"W-What are you doing here?" Ema asked nervously, while Ukyo, Kaname and Azusa didn't reply, piquing Ema's interest. All of a sudden, she recognized a certain aura, the same aura she felt when her brothers rushed into the Shiraishi household in order to search for her. She knew something was wrong. "I-I'm... I'm sorry for running away like that..." she bowed apologetically. Expecting some sort of lecture from Ukyo, she was surprised to find that Azusa was hugging her.

"Ema, I want to talk to you about something..." Azusa said in a serious expression, while Kaname and Ukyo looked at her from behind. Seeing that this was something that was affecting Azusa, she decided to let them inside the house, unaware of what they were going to tell her.

As they walked inside, Ema made her way towards the kitchen to prepare some tea for her brothers. As she began to boil the water, Wataru, Ayako and Michiko walked down the stairs, noticing that people were visiting. Then, as soon as Kaname, Ukyo and Azusa walked inside, Wataru walked over to greet them, even though he was surprised by their appearance.

"Kyo-nii, Kyo-nii, Azu-nii, what are you guys doing here?" Wataru asked, wondering what was going on. Though he knew that he no longer needed to hide the fact that he was living in the Sunrise Residence, the fact that they came still surprised him.

Meanwhile, as Azusa walked in, Michiko couldn't help but stare at him. There was something that caused her to constantly look at him, but she didn't know what. Maybe it was his smooth black hair, his soft, violet eyes, the shy look on his face or maybe the beauty mark under his right eye. Whatever it was, it still didn't change the fact that Michiko started to develop an attraction towards Azusa.

"Well, we want to talk to our cute Imouto-chan!" Kaname told him somewhat cheerfully, earning a nudge as a warning from both Ukyo and Azusa. As Kaname laughed, they all made their way to the living room as they sat themselves on the couch, while Ema sat next to Wataru.

As they looked around the room, they noticed that there was a tense feeling that filled the area. Ema, looking around, wondered what they wanted to talk to her about, since if there was that certain aura going around the room, then it probably wouldn't be a good thing. After taking a look at her brothers' faces, she quietly cleared her throat, catching everyone's attention.

"Ukyo-san, Kaname-san, Azusa-san, what did you want to talk to me about?" Ema asked quietly, overwhelmed by the aura that filled the room. Then, she noticed that Azusa started to look down sadly, causing her to feel concerned for her older brother. Had she said something that hurt Azusa, or at least remind him of some sort of sad experience?

"Over a year ago, Tsubaki had disappeared. We didn't know that he was leaving, nor did he tell us... It was as if he mysteriously vanished..." Ukyo told Ema in a serious tone that showed that he was worried for Tsubaki. "Have you heard anything from him?"

At that moment, Ema remembered what had happened back when she still ran away from her brothers. Back then, Tsubaki, someone she used to hate for killing Fuyuki, had saved her from Fuuto after he kidnapped her. When they made it to the graveyard, he apologized for everything he had done and told her that he would leave the country, so that he would be able to return as the older brother she wanted.

"Yes," Ema admitted as she felt tears pool into her eyes. "I have talked to him on the day he left Japan..." As she looked towards the ground, suddenly, Azusa ran up to her and grabbed her shoulders unconsciously, shocking her.

"What happened? What did he say?" Azusa blurted out, surprising Ema, who always knew Azusa as a calm person, contrasting his older twin. It was clear that he was worried for his older brother, since they had a special bond similar to Masaomi and Wataru's. As Azusa tightened his grip on her shoulders, she continued to speak.

"It was when I was kidnapped by Fuuto-kun and Tsubaki-san over a year ago..." Ema told him in a shaky, yet soft voice, remembering everything that had happened back then. "Before Fuuto-kun was able to do anything to me, Tsubaki-san saved me, betraying his little brother as well." Taking a brief pause, she looked up to see the brothers' faces, which consisted of concerned looks to having tears in their eyes.

"When he took me to Fuyuki's grave, he said that he regretted what he did and asked me for my forgiveness..." Ema continued as tears rolled down her face. "At that moment, I forgave him. Even so, he then told me that he was going to leave the country and stay there until he would be able to be my older brother..."

"I see..." Azusa told her as he let go of Ema, as he adjusted his glasses, he sat back down on the couch and looked towards the floor. "I guess it's because he didn't want to hurt you like how he did when he ran over Fuyuki-san..." Then, he began to look at Ema in the face, while she wiped her tears with her sleeves. "Even so, it still worries me. After all, what if he disappeared from the face of the Earth? What if he's dead?"

Those words struck a chord in Ema's mind. At that moment, she realized how much her brothers were affected when she left the Asahina household for a whole seven years, plus the time where she constantly ran away from them. After all, seeing Azusa's face, created by Tsubaki's disappearance, made her imagine how all of them felt when she, herself, was gone. While tears continually fell from her eyes, when she heard someone stand up suddenly, her attention shifted towards that person.

"He'll come back, Asahina-san!" Michiko said to Azusa, who only looked at her. "I know he will!" Looking at his face, Michiko only gave him a sad look, sad for his pain. She didn't want him to be lonely without him. Though she had ran away from her family to become an idol, she still missed them and hoped that she'll be able to come back. As she then looked towards the ground, upon realizing how bold she looked, Azusa walked up to her and pulled her into a hug.

"Thank you, Arai-san... Thank you for giving me the hope that he'll eventually come back!" Azusa told her gratefully in a soft voice, causing her to blush. At the same time, Ema looking at them, smiled at Michiko, remembering the time she first harboured a crush towards Fuyuki, a time where, like Michiko's situation with Azusa, they first met.

Then, breaking the hug, he turned towards Ema and smiled at her, saying "Thank you for being such a kind little sister!" Then, smiling back, she stood up and began to prepare dinner, offering them to stay for a while, an invitation Ukyo, Kaname and Azusa unanimously decided to accept.

* * *

Later that day, they were seated around the table as Ema placed the food on the table. As everyone smiled at what Ema and Wataru had made, they all began to eat. While the brothers were marvelling at how good the food tasted, Kaname, out of nowhere, brought up an interesting subject.

"Is there anyone you're in love with? After all, such a cute little girl like you has to like someone, isn't that right?" Kaname asked rather flirtatiously, as he placed his arm around her shoulder. He was really curious on who it was, seeing that she was in love with someone who died many years ago.

"Fuyuki," Ema answered bluntly, not giving a second thought until the step-brother she fell in love with came up in her mind afterwards. She wasn't really lying, but she wasn't telling the whole truth either. Sure, she was still in love with Fuyuki, since she promised herself that he'll be the only one in her heart, but at the same time, she was in love with one of her step-brothers. "He's the one I love, of course..."

"Are you sure?" Ukyo asked Ema with a doubtful voice. "I have a feeling that you're really in love with someone else, isn't that right?" Ukyo could remember what Hikaru suggested after Aiko and Masaomi's wedding. As he looked at Ema, who started to become nervous.

At that moment, Ema started to remember what had happened on the night of Fuyuki's death. She could recall all the screams that came from the passersby, the sound of Fuyuki's bones breaking as well as their tearful last kiss. As a tear fell down her eye, she remembered something Fuyuki told her in a dream.

"_I want you to love someone who could protect you... I can't do anything, since I'm dead after all, so please move on and be happy... That's all I ask..." _was what he said back in that dream. As those words resonated throughout her mind, Ema had some sort of epiphany; that she really wanted to be with that brother forever, even if that would mean that she would have to move on from Fuyuki. While her heart began to skip a beat, she looked down and blushed.

"I guess I really am in love with someone else..." Ema said softly as she gestured for Azusa to place his ear next to her mouth, willing to tell him without any regrets. As Azusa listened attentively, Ema whispered, as soft as the sound of a pin dropping from across the room, "The one I'm in love with is..."

Then, as soon as he heard the name, a chuckle escaped from his mouth. Of course, he was happy that his little step-sister was able to admit that she was in love with someone other than Fuyuki. As Ema looked at him curiously, Azusa simply said, "I wonder what that guy would think if he found out..." With a smile plastered on his face, he looked at Ema and wished her the best.

* * *

Then, as the sun began to set, it was time for Ukyo, Kaname and Azusa to leave. As they walked through the front door, Ema stood at the front entrance as she waved goodbye to them. While the car backed out of the driveway, Ema yawned, exhausted both from work and her brothers' visit. Running towards the street, she watched the car disappear into the distance.

Afterwards, turning back around, she was surprised when she saw someone standing right in front of her. He was a rather tall man, who was about her age, that had brown hair that went all the way down to his neck, which was covered by a black hoodie that covered his eyes. Ema, not recognizing the man, tried to back away, but he quickly got a hold of her arms.

"Hinata!" he screamed as he held her arms tight. He had a rather rough voice, though it wasn't like a monster's voice at all. "You have to come with me or else! Trust me!" There was a sense of urgency in his voice, but since he was supposedly a complete stranger to Ema, she did not trust him whatsoever.

"Who are you?" Ema shrieked, trying to squirm her way out of his grasp. As he took her hand, he tried to lead her away from the Sunrise Residence. Trying to make his way to his car, Ema, in one swift and powerful motion, took her arm and used all of her might to slap him across the face, forcing the man to let go.

However, before she was able to run, she managed to trip and fall on the ground. At the same time, since she was so fatigued, she didn't have the energy to stand back up, especially since it took so much of her energy to slap the man. As her eyes began to close, Ema tried her best to keep them open, though she eventually fell asleep on the cold, hard cement.

The man, noticing this, picked her up and led her into the car. Then, as he, himself, went behind the wheel, he looked around to see if there was another man watching him before driving off towards his house, the place where he would have to keep Ema for the time being.

* * *

**TBC**

**Feel free to favourite, follow and/or review!**


	7. Seventh Chapter: Changes

**I Need Your Love**

**Seventh Chapter: Changes**

Gradually opening her eyes, Ema looked around to see where she was. Noticing that she was sitting straight on top of a bed, she remembered what had happened earlier, when she was supposedly kidnapped by a strange man. Quietly stepping off the bed to make her escape, she noticed something, or rather someone sleeping on the floor.

Even though it had been years since she had last seen her, she was still able to recognize her face very well. She was none other than Mahoko Imai, her best friend from high school who was there when she first met Fuyuki. Then, realizing that she could have been _kidnapped_ by that strange man as well, she frantically tried to wake her up so that they could make their escape.

"Hina..." Mahoko complained as she wiped her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"We have to get out of here before that kidnapper gets back!" Ema pleaded, trying to drag Mahoko out of the door, while the latter simply laughed at her best friend.

"What are you talking about?" Mahoko giggled, leaving her best friend confused. "This is my apartment! I live here with my boyfriend! I'm pretty sure you know him as well."

While Ema seemed confused about this situation, after scanning the room for a brief second, she noticed that the man who 'kidnapped' her, slept there, defenseless. Telling herself that it was safe to approach him, she walked closer, before realizing that, in fact, the man who took her was someone she knew.

"Sasakura-kun!?" Ema screamed in disbelief upon realizing that he was her high school classmate named Kazuma Sasakura. As she stepped away from him, remembering that he was the one who _kidnapped _her in the first place, she began to think that there must be some rational explanation for all of this, no matter how crazy it may be.

"Don't tell me that you thought he was a kidnapper..." Mahoko chuckled as Sasakura stood up from where he was, as he walked towards the two. While Ema became uncomfortable at what was going on, Sasakura was about to explain the entire situation, but all of a sudden, the bedroom door opened, revealing a group of people who walked into the room. These people were none other than some of her brothers, namely Masaomi, Natsume, Louis, Iori and Yusuke.

As she looked at them, Yusuke, trying to hold back his tears, pulled her into a hug, crying out, "I was worried about you!" When he heard the news from Mahoko that Ema fainted in front of Sasakura, Yusuke rushed towards the family car right at that instant, while the other brothers followed him.

As he hugged her tightly, Louis simply smiled at them, saying, "Chi-chan, it seems like the 'knight in shining armour' is shedding more tears than the princess herself..." prompting Yusuke to suddenly let got of Ema, who only blushed in turn.

Meanwhile, from the corner of Yusuke's eye, he noticed that Natsume looked at the two with a glare that said, "Get away from her..." As Yusuke looked at Natsume, he gave him a glare which told him, "I'm not going to lose..." Though it was a conversation through eye contact, it seemed as if they all were able to understand what they were saying.

At the same time, Iori, holding a bouquet of flowers in his hand, walked over to Ema and presented them to her, whispering, "Get well soon." As Ema thanked him, he smiled back before planting a tiny peck on her cheek, causing Ema to blush and the others to look at him in disbelief.

"Iori!" some of the brothers yelled, furious at what Iori did out of jealousy, while he stared at them in a way that told the others, "I'm not going to lose either," while the brothers were holding each other back from pummeling the tenth oldest son of the Asahina family.

At that moment, Aiko, holding a tray of food in her hand, walked into the room, while the brothers made way. As she knelt beside the bed, Masaomi told the others to go outside the room, so that he could perform a medical check-up on her, knowing that she fainted right in front of Sasakura.

Then, as soon as Masaomi declared that Ema was okay, he gave Ema a lollipop, a practice that he and his wife usually did with his patients back at the hospital. As Ema smiled at her older step-brother's generosity, Masaomi, with a serious look suddenly plastered on his face, knelt down and looked straight into Ema's eyes, knowing that what he was going to say was defenitely something that would be sensitive.

"Ema-chan," he told her, as the twenty-five year old woman looked at him questioningly. "I want to ask you if you've moved on since that time... You know, since the time where _he_ died." As Masaomi watched Ema's smile fade, Ema suddenly turned around as a single tear slid down her cheek.

"W-Why am I such a bad person?" Ema gave a quiet cry as she wiped a delicate tear from her eye with a single finger. "I promised myself that Fuyuki's the only one I love and yet I betrayed him! I betrayed him by loving someone else after his death! I'm such a cruel woman!" As she began to sob, Aiko pulled her into a hug, trying comfort the crying girl.

As Aiko and Masaomi looked at each other, they wondered about what to do in order to comfort the girl, who felt as if she betrayed her dead boyfriend by loving someone so many years after his death. Then, as the words came up in Aiko's head, she took a deep breath before she said those words.

"Fuyuki would probably be glad that you found someone you love!" Aiko smiled wholeheartedly as Ema continued to cry into her shoulder. "After all, he wouldn't want you to give up your whole love life in order to be faithful to a dead man... He would want you to move on!"

As those words resonated in Ema's head, she couldn't help but cry. Even though she didn't want to move on, she knew that this was something she knew Fuyuki would want her to do. While more tears fell out of her eyes, she hugged Aiko even tighter, while Aiko smiled as she looked back at her husband. After all, they knew that it would take time for her to get used to loving another man. Despite that, in the end, they knew that it would bring her happiness.

* * *

The next day, believing that Ema would be able to go back to the house, Sasakura and Mahoko insisted that they drive Ema back to Sunrise Residence, saying that they want to catch up after several years of separation. Ema, thinking that it would be nice to do that with them, accepted their offer as they made their way back into the car. Then, they began to drive off.

"I've never got the chance to ask, but why did you try to take me away back then, Sasakura-kun?" Ema asked, remembering the time where she tried to get away from him. At that moment, Mahoko took a deep breath, preparing to explain the rather long explanation about why he took her away.

"There's a whole reason behind this, Hina..." Mahoko explained, hoping that Ema would be able to follow along as they talk about their rather confusing story. "You had a pet squirrel, right?" As Ema nodded her head, Mahoko cleared her throat before continuing. "He showed up at the apartment a while ago. You know, he's pretty intelligent"

"What?" Ema asked, shocked that someone she knew had heard from Juli, who had run away in search for her back when she tried to deny that Chiyoko Asahina was really Ema Hinata. "How so? Did he talk to you?" Ema knew that they would think that she was insane if she told them that she could talk to her squirrel, yet she was worried about him.

"Not exactly, but he did communicate with us by typing on the computer with his little hands..." Sasakura pointed out as he stared at the road. "He mentioned that he waited outside the Sunrise Residence when he saw you move back in or something like that." Back when Ema and the other idol group members moved into the mansion, Juli was none other than the mysterious figure that waited outside for his owner to return one day.

"When he showed up at our apartment, he mentioned that he was nearing the end of his life, since he was at the end of a squirrel's life expectancy." Mahoko continued off of what Sasakura said. "Before he died at our place, with his little hands, he typed on the computer that he wanted us to protect you when he's gone." All of a sudden, Ema began to cry, since she only knew now that her beloved pet, whom she tried to avoid at the concert back then, had died. As tears slid down her face, they continued to speak.

"Of course, we did what he asked! He even gave us the directions to your house," Mahoko explained, trying to be sensible of Ema's feelings, since he was a precious pet to her. "I'm sorry about his death though..." As Ema wiped the tears away with her sleeve, she told them not to worry about it as Mahoko looked towards her lap, sad for Ema's pain of losing someone who was important to her.

"As for what happened when I tried to take you away, there's a logical explanation for that..." Sasakura told Ema, who wondered what it actually was. "When I was walking in the park one day, I overheard a man calling someone to kidnap you..."

At that moment, Ema knew exactly what was going on. She knew that Fuuto would do something like that, since he was so obsessed with making her love him. She was aware that he would go to great lengths to make her his, even if it would hurt people, including herself, in the process.

"I just couldn't let that happen, so I showed up at the Sunrise Residence before the kidnapper would be able to get a hold of you!" Sasakura said as he drove into the driveway of the Sunrise Residence. "You really did put up a fight back there, but I guess that after nine years, you wouldn't recognize me..."

"Sorry..." Ema apologized profusely to her friend, who told her not to worry about it. "If I only knew that you were Sasakura-kun, I would have trusted you. I'm truly sorry!"

"It's fine!" Sasakura reassured Ema as they walked out of the car to take her to the front door. Then, as Mahoko and Sasakura pulled Ema into a group hug, they both told her something at the same time. "Besides, we'll protect and support you no matter what... even with love."

Ema, smiling at her old friends from highs school, nodded as Wataru opened the door for her. Then, as she waved goodbye to them, she felt a tear slide down her cheek. As Michiko and Ayako ran down the stairs, Ema reunited with her friends, whom she met at the performing arts academy in America, wondering what will happen as time would pass by.

* * *

A few months later, when it was the day of Christmas Eve, Fuuto paced around his apartment, remembering the events that happened shortly after Masaomi and Aiko's wedding. From what the man he hired to abduct Ema told him, she was taken by some other guy. Fuuto, angered by the memory, suddenly ran across the room into the kitchen as he hastily grabbed a can of beer.

As he poured the contents of the can into his mouth, he remembered that the next day would be Christmas. Seeing that Christmas was a day where couples would hang out with each other, he instantly thought of Ema, his love. That was when he thought of something.

He really wanted to spend time with her, since she was the love of his life. Of course, any rational person in love would want to do the same with his or her lover. However, because of his monstrous obsession for her, he daydreamed about spending some time with the one he adored, though there was something completely wrong going on in his head that one should never do on a Christmas date.

Then, slamming the can right onto the kitchen counter, he finally decided to put his plan into action, even though it was one he planned out in a drunken state in no more than thirty seconds. All of a sudden, in one harsh motion, he pulled out a kitchen drawer and grabbed the first kitchen knife he could see.

Staring at the blade, he stared at it determinedly before smiling like a madman. At that moment, the words, _"I guess you've left me no choice, Nee-san..."_ ran through his head, while he began sharpening the blade.

Then, after putting on a pair of sunglasses, as well as a hood which would hide part of his head, he hid the knife somewhere on his body and quietly made his way to the place where he knew Ema would go on the tenth year anniversary of Fuyuki's death – his grave.

* * *

**TBC**

**Hey, everyone! I hope you're enjoying the story so far! I've realized that the last time Mahoko and Sasakura appeared in the series was in the third chapter of the first volume, so I thought that I should include them here! Anyway, there are only a few chapters left! I hope you're all looking forward to it. Please remember to review and/or favourite if you haven't already. I have been motivated greatly by those. Bye bye!**


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